It is the season of silver-tongued devils

Published: Friday, October 19, 2012 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 6:20 p.m.

The inherent weakness of our political system is: In order to get enough votes to win, you have to prostitute yourself to the 2 percent of the people who actually donate significant amounts of money to politicians, and then you have to prostitute yourself again to what you hope will be 51 percent of the likely voters.

That means the unvarnished truth gets pretty short play in any political campaign, and it has always been like this.

Fair and balanced media? For a brief couple of mid-century decades that was the fashion, but historically all newspapers were voices of one political persuasion or the other. We wouldn’t even have had the Spanish-American War if the Hearst newspapers hadn’t needed something to write about. Rush Limbaugh had his counterpart in Father Charles Coughlin of radio fame in the ’30s. Sean Hannity and George Carlin are just opposite sides of the same coin. They’re all silver-tongued devils trying to make up your mind for you.

I maintain that there is little any president can directly do to make the economy start zooming along. No president in history has managed it yet, though some got lucky a few times. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal didn’t end the Great Depression, and the Kennedy tax cuts didn’t end the late ’50s recession, but events made it look like they did at the time. So here we are today with one candidate wanting to spend more money on public works and the other wanting to cut taxes.

Here is a fact: The biggest drain on the economy is the price of fuel. Last year, with $3-a-gallon gasoline, it cost one man I know one-sixth of his paycheck to drive back and forth to work. This year, with $4 gas prices, it takes nearly one-fourth of his check. That’s money he can’t spend on fishing tackle, microwave pizza, Walmart gift coupons, new sub woofers, or hire a plumber to unclog the toilet, hire a carpenter to repair his house, or take his daughters to Dollywood.

Plus, since everything bought and sold in this country has to be transported, the price of everything else rises with the price of fuel.

Instead of addressing this, the candidates talk about “green jobs” and “closing loopholes.” These things are near and dear to the hearts of big donors but will do nothing to improve the economy.

Turning them all out on their ears to solve the problem, as some maintain, is like spitting in one hand and wishing in the other. Try it and see which gets full the quickest. The way it is, is the way it has to be.

So, what do I suggest?

Since we are right now running the federal government on borrowed and make-believe money, whoever wants to spend the least is a good vote. No politician will ever end your favorite program. No one is going to kill Social Security or Medicare or AFDC or PBS. They may say they will, but they won’t. That’s just to get the money unhitched from the donors’ pockets.

Any vote for a politician who wants to cut regulations is smart. Understand, no regulations are actually ever going to get cut for the same reason as the aforementioned, but that guy/gal is less likely to add to the pile.

I prefer politicians who don’t look straight into the camera at me and smirk while repeating the party line ad nauseam. It seems like a used car sales trick, but that’s just me.

Any politician who thinks babies shouldn’t be sliced up and sucked out through a vacuum hose, simply because they haven’t made it to the outside world yet, I will probably vote for.

I think any candidate who talks more about curing global warming than he does about my heating bill needs to lose. The first is going to happen or not regardless, but my house still needs to be warm in the winter.

When I vote, if the choice is between a Second Amendment supporter or a disarmed citizenry supporter, I already know who doesn’t want me able to resist tyranny and abuse.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison gave us a government that, for all its faults, is still the best the world has ever seen. Just take it all with a grain of salt.

<p>The inherent weakness of our political system is: In order to get enough votes to win, you have to prostitute yourself to the 2 percent of the people who actually donate significant amounts of money to politicians, and then you have to prostitute yourself again to what you hope will be 51 percent of the likely voters.</p><p>That means the unvarnished truth gets pretty short play in any political campaign, and it has always been like this.</p><p>Fair and balanced media? For a brief couple of mid-century decades that was the fashion, but historically all newspapers were voices of one political persuasion or the other. We wouldn't even have had the Spanish-American War if the Hearst newspapers hadn't needed something to write about. Rush Limbaugh had his counterpart in Father Charles Coughlin of radio fame in the '30s. Sean Hannity and George Carlin are just opposite sides of the same coin. They're all silver-tongued devils trying to make up your mind for you.</p><p>I maintain that there is little any president can directly do to make the economy start zooming along. No president in history has managed it yet, though some got lucky a few times. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal didn't end the Great Depression, and the Kennedy tax cuts didn't end the late '50s recession, but events made it look like they did at the time. So here we are today with one candidate wanting to spend more money on public works and the other wanting to cut taxes.</p><p>Here is a fact: The biggest drain on the economy is the price of fuel. Last year, with $3-a-gallon gasoline, it cost one man I know one-sixth of his paycheck to drive back and forth to work. This year, with $4 gas prices, it takes nearly one-fourth of his check. That's money he can't spend on fishing tackle, microwave pizza, Walmart gift coupons, new sub woofers, or hire a plumber to unclog the toilet, hire a carpenter to repair his house, or take his daughters to Dollywood.</p><p>Plus, since everything bought and sold in this country has to be transported, the price of everything else rises with the price of fuel.</p><p>Instead of addressing this, the candidates talk about “green jobs” and “closing loopholes.” These things are near and dear to the hearts of big donors but will do nothing to improve the economy.</p><p>Turning them all out on their ears to solve the problem, as some maintain, is like spitting in one hand and wishing in the other. Try it and see which gets full the quickest. The way it is, is the way it has to be.</p><p>So, what do I suggest?</p><p>Since we are right now running the federal government on borrowed and make-believe money, whoever wants to spend the least is a good vote. No politician will ever end your favorite program. No one is going to kill Social Security or Medicare or AFDC or PBS. They may say they will, but they won't. That's just to get the money unhitched from the donors' pockets.</p><p>Any vote for a politician who wants to cut regulations is smart. Understand, no regulations are actually ever going to get cut for the same reason as the aforementioned, but that guy/gal is less likely to add to the pile.</p><p>I prefer politicians who don't look straight into the camera at me and smirk while repeating the party line ad nauseam. It seems like a used car sales trick, but that's just me.</p><p>Any politician who thinks babies shouldn't be sliced up and sucked out through a vacuum hose, simply because they haven't made it to the outside world yet, I will probably vote for.</p><p>I think any candidate who talks more about curing global warming than he does about my heating bill needs to lose. The first is going to happen or not regardless, but my house still needs to be warm in the winter.</p><p>When I vote, if the choice is between a Second Amendment supporter or a disarmed citizenry supporter, I already know who doesn't want me able to resist tyranny and abuse.</p><p>George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison gave us a government that, for all its faults, is still the best the world has ever seen. Just take it all with a grain of salt.</p><p>And go and vote.</p>